Weight lifting belt belt: Why use one?

Hello to all of you, 

Having written an article on the benefits of using a vest or belt to weigh yourself down, we're now going to focus on a piece of equipment that's becoming more and more common in gyms, and which could become a must-have for your next workout: the bodybuilding belt. 

If you don't know what the benefits of using one are, or what exercises to use it for, or how to optimize your performance, we'll answer all those questions in this article. 

Let's go 🔥

What is a bodybuilding belt? 

A Lifting belt is a piece of sports equipment that attaches around the waist and is used to support and maintain the lumbar and abdominal muscles during heavy weight training exercises or to reduce and prevent pain. 

The advantages of a weight lifting belt

Using a powerlifting belt is very useful if you want to gain strength and power and/or if you want to achieve better posture on bodybuilding exercises. It'll give you a better feel for yourself, and enable you to reach deep inside yourself to set new PRs (Personal Records). 

The lifting belt is mainly used for exercises that require heavy pushing such as the squat, deadlift as well as the snatch and clean and jerk. These exercises require excellent posture, and when pushing or pulling heavy loads, the posture may not be optimal, which can create tension or pain.

For some sports enthusiasts, the lumbar support belt helps them focus on their movements rather than their pain or fatigue.

How and when to use a bodybuilding belt? 

The belt is generally used by bodybuilding, crossfit, weightlifting and powerliftingenthusiasts. When you're on a quest for performance, you need to take care of your body and your health, which is why the belt will play a protective role and enable you to surpass yourself. 

To get the most out of it, you will have to exert intra-abdominal pressure during the movement, i.e. push the belly outwards. This intra-muscular pressure will allow to stabilize the body and it will simply increase the strength and the power during the effort. 

Tip: remember to breathe in through your nose and try to expel as much air as possible from your belly. Then block everything out and carry out your movement.

Do not be dependent on a belt 

Excessive use of a weightlifting belt can lead to dependency and loss of strength in the abdominal and back muscles, as they are no longer forced to work during training. So it's important to find the right balance between using with and without. It's necessary to naturally strengthen the abdominal and lower back muscles to avoid injury, so we advise you to use the belt only when you feel you need it.

The placement of the belt 

The other very important point will be the placement of this belt because if it is badly installed, there will not be the expected benefits.

Place it at the level of the abdominal belt (you can use the navel as a reference or slightly above it, depending on your preference) and tighten it to 85-90%. It shouldn't be too compressed, and you should be able to put a few fingers through without being able to put your whole hand through.

Here's a video showing theadjustment of a power belt. 

Choosing a good weighted belt

We advise you to choose a strong, thick belt that's easy to adjust to your body shape, so you don't lose time between each set. The most important thing is to support your back and lumbar region. 

The weight lifting belt Eric Flag offers the best features: strong, easily adjustable, 4 different sizes to choose the most suitable for you, high quality nylon. 

You'll find it right here: power belt.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post 😃

Our strength belt is the perfect equipment to reach your goals and shatter your records 💪🔥
You can also find our equipment on our street workoutstore !

See you soon, 

Eric flag